Buried.News

Texas state rep and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico responded after Brooks Potteiger, described as Pete Hegseth’s close spiritual adviser, agreed on a podcast that they want Talarico “crucified with Christ,” following remarks about praying that “God kills him.” The Guardian frames this as a “pray for his death” controversy but only partly resolves the key ambiguity: whether listeners are meant to take the language as spiritual-metaphorical, political incitement, or both. It matters because public figures and adjacent influencers increasingly use religious language that sounds like violence while retaining plausible deniability when challenged.

On or about Tuesday, March 24, 2026, Talarico posted on X: “Jesus loves. Christian Nationalism kills… You may pray for my death, Pastor, but I still love you.” The remarks Talarico was responding to came from a “Christian nationalist” podcast, Reformation Red Pill, hosted by Joshua Haymes, in a discussion with pastor Brooks Potteiger. On the show, Haymes used imprecatory-psalm language (“God, destroy them”) and said: “I pray that God kills him,” then added that he meant “killing his heart” and raising him to new life in Christ. Potteiger agreed during the exchange, saying: “We want him crucified with Christ.” Afterward, Potteiger issued a clarification saying he was not praying for literal death but for “conversion,” describing “crucified with Christ” as Pauline language. The Guardian piece ties the podcast world to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by describing Potteiger as his closest spiritual adviser and noting Hegseth has appeared on the podcast multiple times (though the story does not claim Hegseth participated in this specific episode). Talarico recently won the Texas Democratic Senate primary and is aiming to challenge Sen. John Cornyn in November 2026, with some reporting noting the GOP side may still be headed to a Cornyn–Paxton runoff.